


Rooftop

by PerriewinkleNerdie



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23985100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie
Summary: Party for them ends up moving to the rooftop
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 28





	Rooftop

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello, hello! How are we doing, fam?   
> When I say that I've been looking for an idea to write about for the past three days, I mean *three days of nothing* and then this thing just kinda... happened I guess?  
> Enjoy! <3

He not so silently cursed his luck for getting himself stuck in the situations like these. He wanted to blame this fully on Naveen, as it was his idea for him to go to that stupid party, even though he knew fully well that he would be miserable the second he stepped through the threshold. For some reason, despite being aware of all that, he still decided to go, and, no surprise, he wanted to run almost immediately.

“You can’t leave just yet. Come on, there’s Zaid and Baz, you can grab a drink and talk about something else than medicine for once.” Naveen scolded him with a crooked smile, knowing that he was annoying the younger attending. The truth was, the party that residents threw in their apartment was slowly becoming a tradition. Ethan missed the party last year, as did Naveen, both being stuck in the hospital running tests and racing against time. That was one of the reasons why the older doctor wanted them to go so much. For one, because Naveen loved gossip and from what he heard, it was going to be fun, and besides that, he wanted Ethan to live a little, and if he had to drag him to the party to do that, then he was going to do it.

“Ramsey, I literally can’t believe you’re here. You have a life outside of the hospital?” Zaid greeted him, taking a sip out of his glass. His brother shook his head, sighing.

“What he meant was that he’s happy to see you, Ethan.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I meant that he practically lives at Edenbrook.” He shot back, preparing to say something else when Ines interrupted their banter, coming up to them with Harper in tow, both nursing glasses of red wine as they conversed silently.

“I was convinced that the party was meant for residents and interns mostly, yet here you all are. Did Naveen drag you here too?” Ethan glanced over the group in front of him, then at the door behind him, wondering how fast he could leave the room.

“He didn’t have to. We were here last year, and it was so fun, we convinced Baz and Harper to come along this time too.” Ines smiled, nudging Zaid with her elbow, prompting him to agree. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, rolling his eyes before he nodded.

“Yes, very fun. Woo hoo.”

Ethan took the opportunity of them two bickering to run his gaze around the room. He recognized most of the people there, interns and residents mingling among each other, playing games and drinking alcohol. Music was blasting from the speakers, some track he didn’t know, food was everywhere he looked, same for various drinks. He tried counting all five owners of the apartment, but managed to find only four with his eyes.

“If you’re looking for Herondale, she’s not here. She came out to greet us about an hour ago and we haven’t seen her since.” Zaid pointed out, noticing Ethan’s expression.

“I’m not-“

“We all know what’s going on, and honestly? Just go for it if you haven’t already, you’ll feel better.” This time, it was Baz who spoke up, and when Ethan looked over to him, he noticed how teasing his smile was. He remembered how many times Baz must have seen him and Claire being much closer than what being colleagues called for, and yet, he’s never said anything.

“Yeah, just don’t make out in the hospital, I’d like to maintain at least a semblance of peace in that place.” Zaid stepped into the conversation again, making Harper and Naveen laugh.

“Like, you may kiss but don’t go overboard, I don’t want to see too much.” she joined in on the teasing, shaking Zaid’s hand when Ethan exhaled loudly, turning around and leaving them behind.

He’s been there a total of two times, so he couldn’t really say that he knew where he was going. His legs led him to the door to the roof, which seemed like a valid idea, given the fact that he didn’t want to leave Naveen alone completely, but he himself couldn’t stand the party one moment more. He needed to clear his head, and the roof seemed like his best bet.

The cool wind creeped beneath his jacket and ruffled his hair, throwing a few locks onto his face, obscuring his view. The sounds of the city below his were slowly fading into the background as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

“Zaid owns me twenty dollars.” Claire’s voice interrupted the apparent silence, making his mind come to live. She was sitting on the part of the roof that wasn’t so steep, allowing her to fight the gravity with her shoes.

Anyone who would see her in that moment would never say that she was at a party, let alone that she was hosting one. Dressed in a pair of sweatpants, rolled up to half of her calves, a bit too big sweater a pair of sneakers. Her hair fell down her shoulders in gentle waves, moved away from her face by the wind. She held a plate full of fries, eating them slowly as she observed him.

“What for?” he hesitated, asking with his gaze if he could join her, and upon receiving the green light, walked over to her to sit down next to her.

“I said that you wouldn’t last the whole night at the party. That is, if you chose to come at all. He said I underestimate you.”

“And what did you say?” he murmured, looking back at the door leading downstairs.

“That I know you enough to know that you would run.”

She offered him fries, grinning when he looked between her and the plate with hesitation. Despite his preference to eat healthy, he couldn’t deny that he was getting hungry, and it was a kind of a special occasion, so he accepted the food, trying and failing to not smile at her satisfied laugh.

The food disappeared soon enough, so Claire stood up to leave the empty plate on the ground. To his surprise, she reached into the box he didn’t see before, and pulled out a pint of ice cream along with a spoon.

“I didn’t plan on having company, so we’ll have to share a spoon.” Claire concluded, sitting back down and digging into the sweet treat. She offered him the first taste, sighing when he shook his head. “Eat the goddamn ice cream, Ethan.”

He took a hold of her hand, accepting he food. A pleased smile lit up his features when the flavor hit his taste buds. Wordlessly, she ate a bit too, staring out at the skyline, lights reflecting in her eyes, her gaze unfocused on anything in particular.

“We both know I don’t like parties, but the same can’t be said about you. Why aren’t you downstairs?” Ethan pointed out, reaching for her with his hand, running it up and down her arm. Claire shrugged, trying to put into words what was running through her mind.

“I guess I’ve been becoming a bit of an introvert lately. Or maybe I’m just not feeling it tonight. The moment people started arriving, I felt the need to run, I needed to be alone.” She muttered, poking at the content of the box in her hands with the tip of the spoon. Her posture betrayed her, displaying fully just how tired she was lately, with everything going on both in and outside of the hospital. He halted his movements, taking his hand away from her.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I can leave.”

“You’re not interrupting anything. I like you having here, you… let’s say you calm me down.” Claire smiled softly, their eyes locking in an intense stare when she turned to fully look at him, for the first time this evening.

He made a sudden move, leaning towards her, then stopped abruptly to think about what he was doing. She grinned at his hesitation, moving towards him and closing the distance between them. His lips brushed against hers, hesitantly, the sensation almost unpalpable but sending a lone spark through his skin. He let it happen, again and again, with each brush he added more pressure, until he kissed her, moving his hand up her arm, over her neck, reaching her hair and tangling his fingers into it to pull her closer.

Claire hummed gently at the gesture, the box of ice cream falling out of her grip in a moment of abandonment. She broke the kiss, trying to catch it, but instead she saw it rolling aimlessly to the ground, the spoon following it closely behind.

All her protests were swallowed by his lips when he pulled back towards him, grabbing handfuls of her golden locks and pressing himself against her closely. “Leave it.” he groaned lowly, distracting her from the world around them. She nodded gently, running her hands up and down his sides before settling at the back of his shoulders, gripping the fabric of his jacket for the dear life.

They weren’t sure how much time has passed, all they knew was that once they finally broke apart to catch the precious oxygen, the sky was darker and the faint sound of music flowing from the apartment was almost impossible to hear.

Claire ran her fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his face, then began stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. A wistful look in her eyes was blending with the one of ease and some kind of happiness, brightening up the green color of her irises.

“We should go back.” She whispered, pressing another kiss to his lips, unwilling to let him go just yet. Ethan nodded in agreement, but didn’t let her go either, debating whether this should be the moment in which their slowly developing relationship should be let out into the outside world.

They were taking it easy for the past months, without pressure or any expectations. If it was supposed to happen, it would happen on its own terms, that’s what they told themselves. Ethan already knew that they weren’t as sneaky as they thought they were, with Baz picking up on their dynamic that wasn’t so new, just a bit different from what it used to be. Naveen saw it too, so did Harper, so did Zaid and just about every person that has ever seen them together.

A thought crossed his mind, putting a teasing smirk on his features. He gathered her in his arms, pulling her onto him, his lips against her ear when he muttered hotly. “I think I’m going to keep you here for a moment longer.”


End file.
